Hanvey v. Thompson

243 So. 2d 743, 46 Ala. App. 476, 1970 Ala. Civ. App. LEXIS 458
CourtCourt of Civil Appeals of Alabama
DecidedMarch 11, 1970
Docket8 Div. 10 & 11
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 243 So. 2d 743 (Hanvey v. Thompson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Civil Appeals of Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hanvey v. Thompson, 243 So. 2d 743, 46 Ala. App. 476, 1970 Ala. Civ. App. LEXIS 458 (Ala. Ct. App. 1970).

Opinion

WRIGHT, Judge.

On application for rehearing the original opinion in this cause is withdrawn and the following is substituted therefor as the opinion of the court.

Suit was filed in the Circuit Court of Madison County, Alabama, by Naomi Thompson against Burton Eugene Hanvey and Allie B. Hanvey. Allie B. Hanvey later was dismissed as a defendant.

The complaint contained 2 counts. Count I charging simple negligence, and Count II wantonness.

The action was for personal injury of plaintiff, and arose out of an accident occurring in Huntsville, Alabama, on December 31, 1966.

A derivative suit for medical expenses and loss of consortium was filed by Neal D. Thompson, husband of Naomi, and the complaint was substantially the same. Naomi Thompson sued for $80,000, and Neal D. Thompson for $10,000.

[478]*478Demurrer was filed in both cases, and was overruled and issue was joined by plea in short. By agreement, the cases were ■consolidated for trial and by prior order, .after motion by appellant, the Supreme Court consolidated them on appeal. One set of briefs was filed and they were orally argued jointly before this Court.

Upon trial by jury, verdicts were returned in favor of both plaintiffs on the simple negligence count, fixing damages in the Naomi Thompson case at $7500, and in the Neal D. Thompson case at $2500.

Judgment was duly entered by the court in conformity with the verdicts, on March .5, 1969. Motion for new trial was filed and overruled in each case, on April 21, 1969.

This appeal was taken from the trial judgments, and the judgment denying the motions for new trial.

The evidence in this case was practically without conflict. About noon on December 31, 1966, Naomi Thompson, with some members of her family, came from a store ■on the southwest side of Washington Street. She left her party and proceeded ■on foot to the southwest corner of Washington and Holmes Streets. These two streets intersect at right angles. Washington Street is one-way for traffic going north. Holmes Street is one-way for traffic going east.

There is a traffic light controlling traffic on Washington Street located on the northeast corner of the intersection. There is also a light controlling pedestrians located on the same corner. Both lights face south on Washington. There was a light for pedestrians also located on the southeast corner of the intersection facing west. These pedestrian lights controlled movement by the lighted words “Walk” and “Don’t Walk.” There were other lights about the intersection, but they are not material to the events which occurred.

It is without dispute that all of the lights ■controlling pedestrian movement were synchronized and operated together. In other words, pedestrians moved in all directions at this intersection at the same time, even diagonally. When the pedestrian walk signal was on, no vehicular traffic moved and no pedestrians moved when vehicular traffic was moving on either street.

Plaintiff arrived at the southwest corner of the intersection, looked at the northeast corner and saw the light for vehicular traffic on Washington Street. It was red, and the pedestrian light said “Don’t Walk.” Vehicular traffic was moving on Holmes Street. The weather was wet and it was raining at the time. She did not look at the pedestrian light directly in front of her across Washington Street, and proceded to walk easterly across Washington Street. She did not look at any traffic lights a.fter leaving the corner, and did not look at traffic which was stopped on Washington immediately to her right.

There were two cars stopped, side by side, on Washington Street in the two traffic lanes. These cars were stopped in response to the red vehicular traffic light, which plaintiff had seen on the northeast corner. As plaintiff reached the first traffic lane, and in front of the first car,' the red vehicular traffic light turned green. The driver of the first vehicle saw plaintiff and waited for her to clear, and then began to drive on. The defendant was in the second traffic lane on Washington. When the light turned green he started off and struck plaintiff’s right leg with the right front of his car. He never saw plaintiff, and was first aware of her presence when his wife, a passenger in his car, screamed and he felt a bump. He then stopped, got from his car- and found plaintiff lying in the street near the southeast corner of the intersection.

She suffered rather severe injuries, details of which are not necessary to relate here.

Plaintiff’s own testimony was that she was fully familiar with the intersection, and the manner in which the vehicular and pedestrian traffic lights worked; that she [479]*479saw the “Don’t Walk” light and red vehicle light on the northeast corner, proceeded into Washington Street and on her way across without further notice of traffic lights or traffic.

The appellant, Burton Eugene Hanvey, has first assigned as error the overruling and denying of his motion for new trial by the court below. He submits argument on ground 10 of the motion, which was the refusal of the court to give appellant’s written requested affirmative charge with hypothesis as to Count I of each complaint.

It is contended by appellant that the charge should have been given because the evidence established, without conflict, that Naomi Thompson was guilty of negligence as a matter of law, and that said negligence proximately contributed to her injury.

If this contention is correct, appellant was entitled to have the jury so instructed, and a verdict could not be returned against appellant.

The law as to the effect of negligence of a plaintiff in an action of this nature, which negligence is a proximate contributing cause to the alleged injury, is so clear and well known that repetition here is unnecessary. We cite, Alabama Power Co. v. Scholz, 283 Ala. 232, 215 So.2d 447; Insurance Co. of North America v. Mays, 278 Ala. 20, 174 So.2d 700.

We know that the decision as to the presence of contributory negligence is for the jury where there is the mere glimmer, gleam or scintilla to the contrary. Unless evidence of such negligence is entirely free of doubt or adverse inference, the question must be submitted to the jury. Yates v. De Mo, 270 Ala. 343, 118 So.2d 924; Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Rwy. v. Wilson, 271 Ala. 615, 126 So.2d 110; Patterson v. Seibenhener, 273 Ala. 204, 137 So.2d 758.

We have carefully considered the evidence in this case and have presented the material and non-conflicting portions, in greater detail than usual. We have shown in narrative form the testimony of plaintiff, Naomi Thompson, as to her actions as she approached and entered the intersection, and the prior knowledge she had of the physical layout of this particular intersection. We can find no reasonable inference from her testimony, other than her guilt of negligence, as a matter of law.

There is a statute involved in this case, Title 36, Section 58(38), Code of Alabama 1940 recompiled 1958, providing as follows :

“Sec. 58(38). Pedestrian walk and wait signals.—

“Whenever special pedestrian-control signals exhibiting the words ‘walk’ or ‘wait’ are in place such signals shall indicate as follows:

“(a) Walk. Pedestrians facing such signal may proceed across the roadway in the direction of the signal and shall be given the right of way by the drivers of all vehicles.

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Related

Hanvey v. Thompson
243 So. 2d 748 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 1971)

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Bluebook (online)
243 So. 2d 743, 46 Ala. App. 476, 1970 Ala. Civ. App. LEXIS 458, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hanvey-v-thompson-alacivapp-1970.